In Martial Arts, just as in real daily life, human nature tends to “fill in the blanks” of our reality with items we often wish and hope for. This permeates our very fabric of decision making, proving again and again that we are more than just biological machines. While this is a comforting fact, it also can prove detrimental in shaping the outcome of our strategies and actions.
One would think that Martial Arts are a pragmatic method of training, but - just like a vast ocean - there are undercurrents that often can pull, sweep, drag and sink anyone whose training is not well rooted in critical thinking and sweat.
These undercurrents often take a cultish form, preying on the weaker minds. There is a great moment in Star Wars where Obi Wan Kenobi tells Luke that “the Force has a strong influence on the weak minds” - ironically pointing to the culprit while suspending our disbelief at the same time.
Oftentimes, our beliefs will undermine our ability to strategize pragmatically, leading us astray, getting us lost. This is in fact a lack of proper understanding of method and training coupled with a fall for the easier path - one of surrendering our own ability to act to a “higher power” be that either an elusive concept such as “energy”, a more profound religious element or deity, or even a more modern take on the same phenomena - political faith in our government and political leaders.
In either of these cases, we effectively suspend our disbelief, place our faith (trust) outside of our own critical thinking, and ultimately surrender our power to an external element while suspending ourselves in a state of self-hypnosis, mental prosternation, or passivity through waiting.
In all of these cases, we disconnect our ability to critically analyze facts in favor of a promise that keeps us waiting, often confused, and always a subject to a higher power than our own.
This promise keeping us waiting is a strategy that worked on the weak minds for centuries - thousands of years even - and it manifests in the most obvious as well as not so obvious ways and circumstances.
Willingness to question and explore is KEY to continuous learning and - essentially - to greater freedom.
Are you/we still waiting…?
Leave a Comment / Community Invite
(if the comment section below does not load, please refresh the page)
Subscribing is Supporting
If you find our Newsletter content useful, please consider subscribing to one of our Premium Memberships. When you become a paid subscriber you support our writing and efforts to help as many people as possible via articles, classes, and ongoing support. Thank You!
At KineOasis we are dedicated to the empowerment and creative freedom of our students through the exploration and intelligent study of movement in a relaxed and non-toxic learning environment. We use Movement as a means to naturally empower ourselves and our students, to intervene with development as needed, and to enhance everyone's quality of life. Movement As Sanctuary - A method and teaching philosophy life.
Share this post